When looking through this blog, you’ll quickly notice that I love to visit The Grand Canyon. I also like to talk about The Grand Canyon when I’m speaking for different audiences.

After speaking for an audience this week, a lady asked me, “What do you mean when you say ‘there’s a Grand Canyon inside you?'” I loved that question because I’m absolutely convinced that there is indeed a Grand Canyon inside you and a Grand Canyon inside me.

Here’s what I mean.

First, please picture the Grand Canyon itself. (If you’ve never seen The Grand Canyon in person, you can get a good idea of how vast and awesome it is by visiting the following web site where you’ll find beautiful photos and excellent videos.)

Now notice how big and spectacular The Grand Canyon is. Take a moment to check out the different colorings and formations and realize they are always changing. Next, please consider all of the unexplored territory that is in the canyon itself — so much so that, even if you start exploring it today, you will never finish being able to closely examine each nook, cranny, plant, waterfall, animal, trail, stone, water hole, and formation, even if you float down the Colorado River itself.

The Grand Canyon is simply too big for you to see it all.

Now please think about your own mind. Consider all of the unexplored ideas, plans, dreams, thoughts, possibilities and creative breakthroughs that are waiting inside you. I suggest that you and I have a vast assortment of fresh, new memories and experiences waiting inside our minds for us to enjoy and to act on if we take the time to examine the ideas and create the possibilities.

(Sadly, I notice that most people today are racing so fast, and dealing with so many interruptions and clogged schedules that they miss out on the gift of time.)

I furthermore suggest that when you invest a few minutes to create a good memory or experience for your family, your friend, you boss, your customer, and even for yourself, you then are making your minutes count. I also propose that you and I are capable of creating scores of positive memories and/or experiences that live in our minds — and the minds of others — for years and years just like The Grand Canyon has continued to live on our planet.

When working with a group yesterday, a woman asked me, “If you were to make just one suggestion to me, Chuc, what would it be?

My quick answer was: “Make time for you before you do anything else.” When I said this to the lady, she gave me a puzzled look because she was thinking about everything except herself.

Please realize that YOU are your #1 Priority.

It won’t do you any good to answer e-mail, handle interruptions, make phone calls, and check social networks if you aren’t healthy and sane.” Thus, be sure to schedule time for you – every single day — or you won’t get it. After all, you deserve health and sanity, don’t you?

Our parents asked the above question so many times that we often use the same question when correcting other people.

I hope you’re not using the same question.

Please realize that the “Why did you do that?” question solicits an answer for something that occurred in the PAST (de-motivating), whereas good motivation is about the future, not the past. Not only that, the question puts the other person on defense.

Picture a basketball team who wants to go to the Final Four. Will they be better off if they work on strategies for next week’s game or last week’s game? Clearly, they’ll be better off investing their time in preparing for next week’s game (the future). You’ll also notice that when the other team is on defense, you have to work even harder and that takes more time.

Here are four timesaving suggestions:

#1: When correcting someone, move your question to the future. Example: “We know what happens when that occurs (the past) so, if it happens again, how would you see yourself handling it? Note that you’re moving the thinking from the past to the future.

#2: When you’re being introspective, do you ask yourself, “Why did I do that” questions? Or, do you ask yourself, “If that happens again what strategies would help me? Clearly, you’ll be better off if you focus on strategies for the future.

#3: Replace “Why?” questions with “What were you accomplishing by ____?” questions. This will help you learn specifics and prevent de-motivating, defensive explanations.

It was early in January on almost the same date as today, and my wife and I were excited about getting to stop and see the Grand Canyon again.

As soon we got out of our car we could sense that something was different.

Looking in the canyon, we were surprised to see that a large cloud had settled inside the canyon itself. That cloud was so large that it blocked the usual “view” of the brilliant colors, unusual formations, numerous trails, and vast size you would ordinarily see. We laughed because that “view” of the cloud in the canyon was one more “view” of the canyon we had never seen.

Looking around us, we heard people say, “I thought the canyon was supposed to be something big and beautiful. How disappointing! Let’s hurry on to Vegas.”

It saddened my wife and me to realize that the people who hurried away left with the impression that the Grand Canyon was only a big hole with a cloud in it.

(And, by the way, the cloud left the canyon a few hours later. What a glorious sight that turned out to be!)

It occurs to me that life is like this. We often get in such a hurry that we draw the wrong conclusions about the remarkable people and experiences that are around us, and we quickly move on to other places and items that are not nearly as important to our life experience.

Wouldn’t it a lot better to slow down and appreciate where we are and what’s around us? I think so. What do you think?

Can you remember when your mother spoke to you and said, “Listen to me.” Perhaps your mother even said, “Look at me when I’m talking to you.”

Your mom was not just teaching you a skill to use with her. She was teaching you a crucial skill to help you save time when dealing with other people too.

Karen Anderson is a friend of mine and a mom. She also is a teacher, speaker, and consultant. Karen constantly tells her students and clients that “good leaders LISTEN.”

I agree with Karen–and I agree with your mom. Good leaders listen!

Simply try to imagine how can you effectively lead a group in a meeting or any endeavor if you’re not listening to them and paying attention, not just to their words, but also to their body language?

As a former Marine, I can tell you first hand that a good leader, whether in battle or not, is constantly watching his or her team in order to “listen” to what’s going on. And when in battle, leaders and team members use signals so they can communicate without the enemy knowing what you’re saying.

This also is true in sports. When playing basketball or baseball, isn’t it true that players on a team receive messages from their coach from signals (a method of communicating and LISTENING) in the middle of a game?

OK, forget battle and sports for a moment. Think about yourself. Are you a good listener? Do you pay attention to what other people are thinking and saying?

Do you listen to what your customers are saying?

What about your friends? Do you actually listen to them?

And what about today’s politicians. Do they listen? If so, why do they have such low favorability ratings?

Realize that young people “listen” differently than you do. They communicate with friends by sending messages on Facebook, Twitter and other social media. (Text messages are enormously popular.) They therefore “listen” to words and they look at photos and videos. Thus, they don’t use much body language.

I’m writing this post right now to remind you, as the leader and self-manager that you are, that LISTENING is a crucial skill — a time-saving skill that too many people are overlooking today.

Do you agree with what I’m saying about listening being a time-saver? If you do, great! If you don’t, that’s OK. Either way, I’d like to “listen” to your opinion so please jot your comments here.

When consulting with a client this morning, he said, “Chuc, you keep talking about time as if it’s an investment. Why do you do that?”

My response is that you only have four things you can invest every single day: time, money, energy, and creativity. All four of these are important, yet if you only invest money, you won’t have much of a life. If you only invest your energy, you’re going to get worn out. And, if you only invest your creativity, you’ll keep creating and never get anything done.

When you think of time as an investment, you’ll realize it’s your most precious asset. And when invested in your priorities, time is the one commodity that will help you get a return on the other three and thereby make all your Minutes Count.

Does this ring true to you? Leave your thoughts and comments below. I’d love to hear from you.

I speak for a variety of audiences and last week I told a speaker friend, Marian Madonia, that I like to talk about The Grand Canyon in my keynote presentations because 1) even if people haven’t been to The Grand Canyon, they quickly relate to its enormous size, and 2) I love to hike and float through The Grand Canyon myself (as you know from the things we’ve discussed in this blog).

I told Marian that I enjoy saying to audiences that there’s no need to run at The Grand Canyon because wherever you are at The Grand Canyon, you’re already there.

Marian has a very fast mind and she immediately said, “Chuc, The Grand Canyon is a lot like your life. It’s right there for you to see and experience, but you can’t see it all.”

I loved what Marian said because in my way of thinking Marian is right.

Marian went on to say that lots of people spend lots of time focusing only on the steps they need to take and that, if you only focus on your steps at The Grand Canyon, you miss out on the big picture and the richness of the entire experience.

I loved that comment too because it also is true.

When hiking at The Grand Canyon, it of course is important to watch the steps you take because trails are steep, rocks are apt to be in the way, and you could even step in a hole or fall off the trail. What’s just as important, however, is not just to watch your steps, but to look around to enjoy and appreciate the beauty and vastness of the canyon.

Isn’t this also true of life? I think so.

The Grand Canyon is so beautiful, so awe-inspiring, so vast that you simply can’t see all of it in a moment. Even if you fly over The Grand Canyon, you can’t see the flowers, smell the fragrances, feel the temperature changes, examine the caves and ancient dwellings (See the photo at the top), and you certainly can’t experience the true depth of the canyon. It is simply too big to see it all at one time.

I propose that your life is mighty big too. I suggest that your life (just like mine) is right there in front of you and me to see, experience, and enjoy. And, if you agree with me, wouldn’t you say that it’s a good idea to make a plan for your life so you can follow the trail that takes you where you want to go? Likewise, wouldn’t you say that it seems silly and wasteful to do all the hurrying that everyone is doing? After all, why hurry when hurry makes you miss so much?

Everyone has their own perspective about the way they see The Grand Canyon and the way they see their life. For example, my sons and I were standing on the edge of the South Rim of the canyon and admiring the beautiful colors and formations when a bus full of tourists pulled up. The tourists got out of the bus to look at the canyon and my sons and I laughed when one man looked at the canyon and said, “Boy, that sure is a big hole. Ok, let’s go on to Vegas.”

Pretty funny.

I think planning is important, whether you’re exploring the canyon, traveling to Vegas, or trying to make the most of the minutes in your life. I think teamwork, scheduling steps at the right time, prioritizing and taking breaks are important too.

How about you? Do you have an opinion? If so, please share your thoughts here.